Revelstoke council awarded Mounce Construction the contract for phase one of the Big Eddy Water project at a cost of $2,564,245.90 — 28 per cent higher than the city expected.
“It’s exciting this project is moving ahead,” said coun. Linda Nixon.
There was no discussion or questions about the high price of the lowest bid. That was left to the end of the council meeting, when the media had the chance to ask questions of staff.
Mike Thomas, the city’s director of engineering, said the bid price did come as a surprise to himself and WSP, the engineering firm that prepared the bid package.
“We’re working with a number of consulting companies working out why the bid prices are higher,” he said.
Possible reasons for the high prices could be the lack of hotel availability to house workers during the summer, and the fact that so much federal and provincial infrastructure money was given out recently, reducing the availability of contractors available to do the work.
“We’re looking at other tenders they’ve recently put out across the province and seeing if prices are higher there,” said Thomas.
When asked about the impact of the high bid, Thomas said the city only had $5.7 million available for the project. He said there won’t be more money from users or senior levels of government to pay for the project.
He said the city and WSP would be reviewing future phases of the project as it moves ahead. The work being undertaken in phase one — construction of a dedicated pipe from the wells to the reservoir and replacement of the main line through the Big Eddy – are considered the highest priority work.
“We’re moving forward with the highest priority work first,” said Thomas. “A lot of this project was about improving fire flows and I can say this particular work will improve fire flows to all the properties in the Big Eddy.
“We won’t get more money, but we will be able to change our priorities within the grant.”
Snowbirds air show a go!
Revelstoke council gave the go ahead to the Snowbirds air show, which involves a flyover only 150 metres above town.
“This is exciting,” commented coun. Scott Duke.
The non-aerobatic show is being planned for Wednesday, July 26, with a meet-and-greet at the airport and reception at Revelstoke Mountain Resort the day before.